Month: November 2018

Today I have the pleasure of introducing author J.S Frankel who will be sharing his thoughts on reading and writing, and details of his Book, The Incredible Aunty Awesomesauce

Jess on Writing

Where do you get your ideas?

I get my ideas from everywhere! From the Internet and recent news, from throwaway lines other people say that stick in my head, and I am a HUGE YouTube watcher. I love music and music videos, and I can honestly say that no less than seven songs have inspired novels I’ve written.

What motivates you to write?

I want to tell a story, plain and simple. I love watching my characters grow.

How many hours a week do you spend writing?

I’ve never counted, but I’d say at least four hours a night, almost every night, so…about twenty-five hours, give or take.

Best thing about writing?

The best thing is coming up with an idea and running with it. I love to see a book come to life.

Your biggest writing distractions?

Music videos, noise…I like a quiet atmosphere, but with my wife and two children always talking, it’s hard. Still, they are my family, and family comes first.

How long does it take you to write a book?

For one of my novels—they average out at 67500 words—the initial draft takes only about three weeks. I know that sounds short, but I write fast and hard and long. And I am consistent. At that three-week point, the novel is readable, but by no means publishable. There are lots of mistakes in grammar and punctuation, plot bunnies, dialogue I’d like to make more interesting, etc. So I spend another two weeks or so tweaking it and then send it off and hope for the best.

Have you ever cut anything from your book and why?

Only passages that didn’t advance the plot. The late Elmore Leonard once said to trim the fat and leave the meat—or words to that effect—and that’s what I do. I’m very much a minimalist writer, and my editors have always said, “Say what you want simply, and if it doesn’t advance the plot, cut it out!” Sound advice, methinks.

Least favorite thing about writing?

Editing. It is the devil, but a necessary evil.

What do your friends and family think about you being a writer?

They don’t ask; they know it’s something important to me. My wife only asks if my books are selling—she’s from Osaka, and the people from that region of Japan are very practical.

How do you measure your success as a writer?

Success is relative. Some would say by how much $$$ you earn. Others would say, “You wrote the book. You made it!” Me, if I can improve from novel to novel and the readers tell me I’ve improved, then that’s enough. Sales depend on so many factors and don’t indicate how good a writer is. Just my take on that.

What advice would you give to yourself if you were starting the writing journey again?

Start earlier! I didn’t begin writing until I was forty-eight, and I got published a year later. (I’m almost fifty-seven). If I were smarter and had possessed greater foresight, I would have started fifteen years earlier, but my family took precedence then, so…that’s how life goes.

Jess on Reading

What is your favorite genre(s)? Tell us more about why you love them?

YA, Science Fiction, and Adventure. Loved them as a kid, love them now. I read them because they let my mind go free, and I can let go from the mundane life I have for a short time.

Your most influential books?

Gone South, by Robert McCammon. It’s a novel about a journey of self-discovery for Dan Lambert, the MC, but also for a few of the supporting characters, and McCammon weaves his story well.

If you could have a signed copy of a book by an author (dead or living) what book would it be and why?

The Voyage of the Luna 1. It was a story written in 1949, I believe, and it was the first S/F novel I ever read, probably when I was around seven or eight. Sure, the science was wrong, but it didn’t matter. That novel got me started in reading and put me on the path I’m walking today.

About your Books…

You are living in your latest novel. Where are you living, and what is it like?

Oh, this would be me as Sam Aushumness, the protagonist of The Incredible Aunty Awesomesauce, a YA Fantasy novel. The setting is contemporary Portland, and I’m sixteen, short and skinny and sort of shy, and all I want to do is to spend time with my girlfriend, Kym Kim—yes, that’s her name!—and get through school without being beaten up.

“You have no concept of how bad I can be.” Meet Aunty Awesomesauce, the baddest aunty in the galaxy.

Don’t mess with her in the kitchen. Don’t mess with her outside.

Don’t mess with her–ever.

About J.S Frankel

J.S. Frankel was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up there, receiving his tertiary education from the University of Toronto and graduating with a double major in English Literature and Political Science. After working in Toronto for three years, he came to Japan at the age of twenty-six and has been there ever since.

Married and with two sons, he resides in Osaka. His novels, all for the YA set, include Twisted, Lindsay Versus the Marauders and it’s sequels, Lindsay, Jo, and the Tree of Forever, and Lindsay, Jo and the Well of Nevermore, all courtesy of Regal Crest Enterprises. He has also written the Catnip series (five novels), Mr. Taxi, The Titans of Ardana and its sequel, The Titans of Ardana 2: Battlefield, along with Picture (Im)perfect and more novels, courtesy of DevineDestinies.com.

Future projects for Devine Destinies include Cyber Sprite, The Auctioneer, What The Gods Allow, and Outcasts 2, all for Devine Destinies. Fight Like A Woman–for Regal Crest–will be out next year, although a release date has not been specified.

It’s been a crazy few months and a lot of ‘real life’ issues have taken me away from my writing and blog.

Between renovations, preparing to move from one side of Australia to the other, and a todo list that sat in the hundreds, I had very little downtime.

Last Sunday, I finally got on a plane and officially moved from Perth to Brisbane for the foreseeable future. Now I can look forward to nine months off work as I take some extended leave. Plenty of opportunity to get back to writing and blogging and to look after my health. I have a new writing desk with a new view, and although I’m going to miss my old home and my little writing pod, I’m already getting a good vibe about my new writing space.

I think where we sit and write is really important to our creativity. A writer, or any artists for that matter, needs a space they call their own, where they mentally feel ready to submerge themselves in their chosen craft. My cats have already commandeered half my desk, but I’m used to that, and they have become part of the scenery 🙂

It’s going to be another week before I can let them out to play so the best they have is watching through the window. They have already engaged in a bit of territorial wailing with our new neighbors cats… I have some turf wars to look forward to!

I’m going to kick-off my return to blogging with a series of author interviews. Details to follow.

I also have a lovely motivational reading list ready so I’ll be writing reviews as I go.